THE 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando commenced last Friday with the All-Star Celebrity Game. Comedian extraordinaire Kevin Hart was in impressive form on Friday as he led the East celebrities to a comfortable 86-54 win over the celebrities of the West.

In a display filled with trickery, Hart claimed for himself the award of Most Valuable Player to keep his spirits pumping as he anticipates the release of Think Like A Man, scheduled to be released on April 20.

Following this was the revamped BBVA Rising Stars Challenge and the league’s 2012 number one draft pick Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kryie Irving certainly lived up to his billing. In the highly anticipated clash between Team Shaq and Team Chuck, where the rookies and sophomores combined to form to the two teams, the exciting rookie scored 34 pints, bagging eight three-pointers, to lead Team Chuck to a 146-133 over Team Shaq.

Admittedly, NBA nation was expecting Team Shaq to win the encounter as they boasted the likes of Blake Griffin, Jeremy Lin and Ricky Rubio, but it was another Cavalier, Tristan Thompson who top-scored for them with 20 points. As always during the All-Star weekend, defence was nonexistent as there was a host of jaw-dropping highlights coming from all parts of the court.

On Saturday, it was a case of third time’s the charm for San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker as he claimed the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. On two previous occasions he was last in the competition but this time around he outlasted Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics and Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets in the final round of the full-court obstacle course. Rondo did have the fastest time in the first round, but Parker recorded 32.8 seconds in the final round to claim the title.

Up next was the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, where Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love outscored Oklahoma City Thunder talisman Kevin Durant. Notably, the remarkable factor in Love’s success is that Love’s prowess comes from inside the paint (as he can also play as a center), making him the first non-sharpshooter to win the contest.

His other competitors included Orlando Magic favourite Ryan Anderson and reigning champion James Jones who has been superb thus far. To claim the title, he had to overcome two tiebreakers but he did in the end and with that reaffirmed his title of being one of the most diverse players in the league.

Bringing down the night with a bang was Utah Jazz rookie Jeremy Evans in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. The class of competitors was studded with first-timers as Paul George, Derrick Williams, Chase Budinger and new champion Evans were all getting their first bit of dunk contest action.

Evans’ winning dunk was a two-ball dunk over seated teammate Gordon Hayward (who tossed up both basketballs) to bring him a one per cent win over his competitor in the finals, Chase Budinger.

Budinger’s final round entry was a dunk over a standing hip hop mogul Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs, who provided the assist after challenging Budinger with the title of the Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson cult-classic White Men Can’t Jump.